


Hunger Pains

by RedInkat



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Humor, Post Regeneration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 07:31:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14232357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedInkat/pseuds/RedInkat
Summary: New Doctor, new body, new tastebuds.





	Hunger Pains

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "The Christmas Invasion".
> 
> Disclaimer: Doctor Who is © BBC and the show’s creator(s). No copyright infringement is intended whatsoever nor is any profit being made from this fanfic; i.e. it is purely non-profit.

**Hunger Pains**  
By RedInkat

The Doctor laid out atop the bed, an elbow bent awkwardly as he chewed at a pencil, his dark eyes fixated on the newspaper before him. Rose’s mother, read one very demanding Jackie Tyler, insisted that the Doctor spend the night after saving her daughter and the world from the Sycorax. Naturally he was coraled into the bedroom he had spent the majority of his post-regeneration recovery period in. As curious as he was about sleeping bags, there was no sodding way that Jackie would be letting him spend the night in Rose’s room. “Not until you’re properly married!!” she hollered at them both which in turn made the Doctor wish he could shrink his gangly form into his trench coat while his companion turned 347 different shades of pink before she yelled back “Mum!”

So now here he was presumable sleeping (or so Jackie thought, any attempts to explain his superior Time Lord physiology’s much lesser need for sleep would only spiral into a much, much potentially even more awkward conversation then the one he had today) and after flipping through a small pile of The Times destined for the recycle bin, he found himself newly obsessed with a logic game called Futoshiki.

He had just solved his 23rd puzzle when his stomach grumbled, and quite noisily at that. At first he ignored it, but the second go around...

Removing his glasses from his face he held his face, his other hand coming to rest on his gurgling stomach. Time Lord or not, he still needed to eat.

Stealthily he slipped from the bedroom into the living room, taking care to shut the door quietly behind him. Hastily he made his way into the kitchen and began poking through the cabinets. He found a small jar of orange marmalade jam which he had just begun taste-testing when the lights came on the kitchen.

“Doctor? What are you doin’?” a sleepy-eyed Rose asked him. “And are you eatin’ jam? With yer fingers?”

The Doctor smiled sheepishly around a mouthful of marmalade, “What?” He glanced down at the open jar of jam in his hand, “Oh, look there I seem to have happened upon a jar of marmalade, funny thing about marmalade it was a serendipitous creation. Serendipitous?” He paused only long enough for breath, popping the “P” before speaking again, “I rather like that word, serendipitous. “ He said it again, taking care to enunciate every syllable. “Anyway what was I talking about again? Oh right marmalade...”

Rose only stared ahead, dumbfounded at how this Doctor could go on and on and on and...she shook her head and spoke up, “Doctor...,”

“It was all a complete accident you see...,”

“DOCTOR!” Rose spoke up again louder.

“What?”

“It’s six o’clock in the mornin’!” she stated in an exasperated tone of voice.

“Oi! I was bored! Not to mention hungry! How was I supposed to concentrate on an empty stomach!?” he all but whined.

“If you’re that hungry we can go get some breakfast then, not like I’ll do much sleepin’ with you nosin’ about the kitchen. I’m just glad you didn’t wake up mum, she’d had a right fit she would.” said Rose as she took the marmalade jar from the Doctor; he pouted at her mournfully like a puppy robbed of his favorite toy and she only shook her head. It was going to take awhile getting used to this new Doctor. She put the jar away and walked back to her room the Doctor trailing behind her dutifully.

“Will there be more marmalade at breakfast?” he asked her hopefully.

Rose stopped abruptly and the Doctor bumped into her, his hands instinctively coming to rest against her sides. Huffing, Rose turned around and spun the Doctor round pressing her hands into his back, “Budge up, I gotta change.”

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder and he smiled cheekily at her, brown eyes twinkling with mischief, “What for? I hear pajamas are all the rage right now in the fashion world, I should know, I popularized it,” Rose smiled at him, and leaned forward, pressing her long nails into his back, “Stop crackin’ on me, or you’ll be gettin’ no breakfast you got it?”

“Who’s crackin’ on who now?” he remarked with a shake of his head, he jumped as he felt Rose’s nails trail up the back of his jacket and pinch him through the thin material of his dress shirt. “I’m goin’ I am!” he replied as he scurried away, Rose giggling behind him as she went into her room to change.

The Doctor practically bolted back to his room to fetch his overcoat, nearly tripping over his own feet as he hurried back to Rose's room where he waited for his companion impatiently. Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet he chewed at his bottom lip. What was it with humans and their constant fussing over their appearances? After what felt like an agonizingly brutal wait, five minutes later, the door opened. Rose chuckled as she pulled on her jacket.

"Somebody must really be hungry,"

"Are you ready?" he asked as he hopped from one foot to the other.

"I am, if you are,"

"Great! Allons-y!"

Beaming the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and ran to the door, forcing Rose to keep up. Some things never change, thought Rose with a smile.

*

About a half hour later the pair managed to find a cafe serving breakfast, tea, and pastries. The Doctor clung to Rose as they stepped inside, "So hungry," he whined and she shushed him as the hostess walked up to the two.

"Rough night?" she asked at the Doctor who currently rested his chin on Rose's shoulder.

"You have no idea," Rose answered with a roll of her eyes.

The hostess smiled knowingly, "There should be a booth open right over here love, right this way."

The Doctor and Rose followed the hostess to their booth, which was u-shaped in design with a small square table housed at its center. Both sat opposite one another. The hostess handed them both a menu and the Doctor eagerly began flicking through it as Rose took her time.

"Your server will be by shortly,"

Rose smiled at the hostess and she looked up at the Doctor, frowning as he pulled on a pair of black glasses. Odd, when did he ever wear glasses? New new Doctor. Shaking her head Rose turned her attention back to her menu. A hushed hissing noise caused her to look up.

"Rose, Rose! They have banana crepes! With chocolate sauce!" he whispered over his menu to her excitedly.

"I know!" she replied.

"You've gotta get em too!" he enthused.

"Alright, alright!" she agreed, chuckling, "I'll get them too, why are we whispering?"

The two refocused their attention on their respective menus as the waitress appeared.

"Good mornin', I'm Beth, now what I can get you two lovebirds this mornin'?"

"Actually we're not, dating," Rose replied with a shy smile.

"Aww, no foolin' me love, especially with the way this bloke's been eyeing you," she commented knowingly. The Doctor fidgeted and pulled on his ear nervously.

"Well we're ready to order actually, he'll have the banana crepes with chocolate sauce, and you best make sure it is one large plate."

"Why just one?" perked the Doctor up suddenly.

"Oh he speaks," said Beth.

"The last time we ate here you stole bits of food from my plate," scolded Rose. "You do remember don't you?"

"Everything's...foggy?" he tried lamely.

"Make it a double," Rose said to Beth with a wink, "He needs his strength,"

"Oi! Now that's just plain cheeky!" The Doctor retorted.

"I'll just have a fry-up," Rose added.

Beth nodded and took their menus, "It'll be just a few minutes."

The Doctor drummed his fingers about impatiently on the table to a nameless melody as Rose checked her phone for messages. He smiled slightly as he watched her, shaking his head. Humans were so utterly reliant on technology, he knew for a fact that Rose wouldn't last five minutes without her cell phone.

"So, I was thinkin' we should go on a supply run after breakfast yeah?" Rose asked him as she looked up from her cell phone.

The Doctor nodded, "Sure, we can do that I suppose,"

"It's been awhile since we had a chance to stop and stock up," she replied turning her attention back to her cell phone, "Since, well you know," Drawing in a breath, Rose bit down on her lip, hand tightening around her phone.

Inchworm-like, the Doctor scooted over to Rose, attempting to be as nonchalant as possible. He leaned into her side, resting his chin on her shoulder in an attempt to read whatever it was that was so interesting on her cell phone's tiny screen.

"What? What do you want?" she asked him.

The Doctor tilted his head to the side like an owl.

"I want to know what you're reading that's so interesting,"

"Oi, stop crowding me," she scolded him as she pushed him lightly.

The Doctor gave her knee a light, playful squeeze eliciting a shriek from Rose, and she laughed, swatting him with her hand.

"Get back over there," she giggled as he hurriedly scooted away.

Thankfully, at that time their waitress had returned, tea in tow. She placed a small tray at the table's center and poured them each a cup.

"There you are, breakfast'll be along shortly," Beth walked away and left the pair alone again once more.

The pair turned to their respective cups of tea and Rose finally put her cell phone away much to the Doctor's relief.

"It's going to be a bit before the TARDIS'll be able to fly again, I'm going to have run a full diagnostics check and perform repairs, poor ole girl took a real beating," The Doctor spoke softly as he stared into his cup of tea. He pushed his glasses up as he looked back at Rose, "It probably wouldn't hurt for me to look for some spare parts I suppose,"

"So what you're tryin' to tell me is you wouldn't object to me draggin' you around through the shops?"

"No of course not, not at all...," he paused to take a sip from his tea, scrutinizing his pink and yellow human companion suspiciously as he did, "Why would I object?"

Rose playfully twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, her expression thoughtful, "Perhaps I had certain other things that I wanted to buy besides food," she replied with a wink. The Doctor used his other hand to steady his tea cup and felt suddenly a little bit warmer than was normal per a Time Lord. Praise Rassilon he belonged to a race of touch telepaths. The smell of food drew his attention away from Rose's teasing and his stomach growled in anticipation.

Beth approached their table, a large tray of food in hand. She set the plates down carefully in front of Rose and the Doctor.  
"There you are, one double order of banana crepes in chocolate sauce, and one fry-up. Enjoy."

"I hope you're hungry Doctor," teased Rose as she picked up her fork and knife. She was skeptical if he would finish his entire plate of food, a single order of this particular dish was more than enough for two people. Even at his hungriest she never saw Mickey eat an entire plate. The one and only time he had ever attempted it had ended with her driving him home, bellyaching all the way.

The Doctor eagerly cut into his breakfast and took a large bite. He chewed slowly, savoring each bite, his face one of pure bliss. "Ooh Rose..." he mumbled around a mouthful, "I'm in love!" He dug right back into his food, taking another big bite. "This is better than ambrosia," He took a sip from his tea before he proceeded to take another bite, babbling away, "Did I ever tell you about the first time I had ambrosia?"

As the meal progressed Rose noticed that it became much quieter, something she found unusual given her dining companion. But no, sure enough, the Doctor had become quite engrossed in his meal, almost trancelike as he ate. He settled into the booth when he had finally finished, a content look upon his face.

Rose pushed her plate away, only able to finish half of her meal. She gaped at the Doctor's empty plate, not even a speck of chocolate sauce remained. Where on earth did he put it all?

"Rose, we need to come here more often," said the Doctor. "That was divine."

"Still up for goin' shopping?" Rose asked him.

The Doctor chuckled, "After that, I'd take you to the Zhottonuu Bazaar if the TARDIS wasn't broken,"

"Well then I'll just have to wait then won't I?" Rose said as she placed her head on his shoulder.

The Doctor turned towards Rose, his expression dead serious, "If you show me how to make banana crepes, I'll never leave your side again," He grinned at her and she smiled. "You promise?" she asked him as she stared up into his eyes. Squeezing her hand he smiled at her, "I promise."

_~FIN_


End file.
